I'm working on some teams, trying to use some of the cool new figs from Supernova in a 300 point format. My problem is that I just can't put all my eggs in one basket and build a 300 point team with a single character over about 130 points. Any higher than that and I fear that I'll be out-actioned, that I won't have all the support the figure needs, or that the figure will be a lone-gunman with nothing else to win with if that figure goes down.

So then I start on a swarm team. Maybe SHIELD, or maybe I start with a bunch of lower cost figs with good attack values. Then I feel like I'm all pistols and no artillery, not enough power. Sure I can have 3 SHIELD Snipers hit you for 3 each turn, but your Hyperion's coming over with an object for 7, or Thanos is taking out one of my people every turn, and shrugging off my shots with Impervious.

Then I throw my hands up and try again later.

So what do you prefer to play with: swarm, tentpole, something else? How do you build to maximize the effectiveness of whatever strategy you choose?

Ordinarily I just build theme, but I'm trying to think outside the comic page now. I have nothing against theme or comic-accurate builds, quite the contrary. I'm just trying to step my game up.

I like a balanced approach; I tend to want at least 5 figures on the board in a 300 point game. That means that if I use a 100+ pt. figure, some of my other figures will have to be cheaper. Here's an example of a team I won a tournament with last night (Build restriction: no figure over 50 pts):

V Mockingbird
R Destiny
E Domino
E Starter Wasp
R Parademon Scout
V Magdelena
E Icons Cheetah
E Spymaster
E Blackfire

None of these characters are very durable, but there is a lot of mobility through free moves and carrying. I didn't have to worry about Ultimates/Superman team ability due to the build restrictions, so I brought a lot of stealth. Two PCers helped with middling attack values.

I have used a variant of this team with all characters in the 50-100 pt. range with great success in regular constructed play. I call it "team good n' plenty." Of course it has no theme and relies on undercosted figures.

With all the new skrulls with their shape change/SS/Skrull ability madness, the swarm team has new life. I cant tell you how tough a Super Skrull and Skrullies swarm team is to beat these days.

I have always been a tentpole guy though. Not by choice though.

Don't build teams blindly. The thing that has taught me the most about good team building is the guy that wins at all the events and how he takes every one out. Watch that person play then look for what he does good, whare his weaknesses are and how best to counter his attacks. Ive been working on a strategy called "11 clix showing" meaning I need 3 figs that will deal a total of 11 clix of damage to a figure. So far the team looks like this R Iron Fist w/ pounce (3 Dam) U Black Queen+taxi E DEO Agent w/ ICWO (4-5 Dam) and V Havoc w/ICWO (4-5 Dam) so with good placement the 3 figs will do a tatal of 13 clix if maxed out.

I had the same issues when I sat down and actually started constructing teams. Here's one that did very well for me.

R Silver Surfer 121 + ICWO 10
R She-Hulk 65 + Tbolts 5 + ICWO 10
R Tessa 39
E Hydra Technician 19
V Hive Trooper 25
B Ted Knight 6 (or anything else, the last few points aren't important)
300

Depending on your playstyle you can use it as a tentpole or swarm team, and you have answers to figs at range and in stealth. I've had a lot of success with this, and would have beat Thanos had he not rolled a crit hit on Tessa, KOing her instead of knocking her onto PC/Stealth.

I try to find balance. If I play with a SHIELD-swarm, I always try to include at least couple of the more potent characters like Nick Fury, Wolverine and Mystique, to act as troubleshooters, taking out any opponents that generic flunkies cannot handle.

When commanding Skrulls, Super Skrull is always the first choice. If I have enough points, I´ll take both of them. With the remaining points I grab as many smaller Skrulls as possible, and try to buy a feat or two for the Super Skrull. This method has worked fine for me. I am planning about wielding a team containing a horde of SN Skrull Warriors with Rip It up.

I´m not sure if I have understood the concept of "tentpole" (being a newcomer here), but if I use such a team, I´ll try to make sure that my big investment at least gets a chance to prove its value on points. If I choose an expensive character, and the points are scarce, the rest of the team will be comprised of cheap figures, whose purpose is to block line of sight to my "tentpole" or prevent access to adjacency. I believe that the best way to keep a figure out of harms way is to minimise the chances for your opponent to attack it in the first place, instead of believing in your ability to roll Impervious.

The most trustworthy tentpoles are powerful Mastermind-figures (Dr. Doom). They are not without their Achilles´s Heels, but almost always good choices.

Basic rule for team building:

1) Think of it like you are going to war. What would you need to go to Iraq right now?
2) Think of it like you are playing pro football. What do you need (defense, offense, 2ndary - special teams)?
3) Think of it like any sports (Basketball, baseball, etc.).

Let me choose item 2 above for discussion purposes.

In a basketball team you have 1 or 2 star players. The object of them is for them to score. You need support for them. Let us say you have Tim Duncan as your star player (he is your tank). You will need a good back up tank for him and a couple of good shooters (Ginobli, Finley, Parker) to hit from a distance.

Now let us put that into Heroclix. You only need 2~3 star players and all support to win in Heroclix the most. All the other players are just back up or the cleaning crew. If your heroclix player damages for 5 (3 plus a heavy object). You need rangers who can do another 4 (2 RCE). And lastly you need a clean up crew who can do 3 and 2 to finish the job. That is about 14 clicks total damage on a figure. There are a lot of figure who has super strength and 3 damage under 50 points and RCE guys with 2 damage around 50 or less points with the finishers each having 20 to 30 points. That is only 140 points worth of investment. Now that 140 points is just your 2ndary attackers. Now you have 160 points left for your primary attackers in a 300 point game.

If you think that way your opponent will concentrate on your primary attackers while you decimate your opponent with your entire team.

Good luck!

I definitely do not like 'tentpole' teams, but when I've played them I've been most successful if the 'backups' have high-damage output. That way, as my big gun gets engaged, my secondaries can keep the hurt on. The most recent constructed 'tentpole' team was LE (Critical Mass) Surfer backed up by only a Firelord.

My definition of a 'swarm' team is a little different than most: I require my swarmers to be low-cost free-movers (usually Avengers, but also Flying Wild Cards like Doombots, LSH, et al.) I've found that 'swarming' doesn't work if you end up burning a lot of actions on movement. The key to 'swarming' IMO is to be able to get 99% of your team in base-to-base with as much of the opposing force as possible by no later than turn 3. Inspring Command w/ IC Captain America (plus all those cheap Avengers with Flight or Leap/Climb) make this very easy.

The real key to team-building is, IMO, to have a strategy for reliably doing damage. This means being able to hit, and being able to get through Damage Reducers. As the game has introduced many more options for move+attack+run-away, there is now a higher premium on actually being able to chase down such 'run away' pieces too. :P